, then get them. The girls can take you up to Belton's camp."

"And perhaps I can get some word of Will," observed Grace hopefully.

The trip up the river was devoid of incident, except that Betty nearly
ran on another sand bar, being warned just in time by Mr. Hammond. Then
they reached the landing where Belton's boat was moored.

"That shows he's in camp," said the foreman, as he helped the girls tie
the _Gem_. Then they struck off into the interior, not a few doubts
tugging at the girls' hearts. It was very wild and desolate, the
Everglades being not far distant.

CHAPTER XII

A WARNING

Trailing vines hung from great trees on either side of the path. Large
bunches of Spanish moss festooned other monarchs of the forest, which
seemed gloomy indeed as the girls gazed off into it. Now and then some
creature of the woods, disturbed by the passage of the party, would take
flight and scurry off, fly away or slink deeper into the fastness,
according to its nature.

"Ugh!" exclaimed Grace in a low voice, as she walked along behind Betty,
"I don't like it here!"

"Why not?" asked Mollie, who was in the rear of Grace. "I think it is
most romantic. Just think--we may be treading over the very ground where
de Leon and his men searched for that fountain of perpetual youth."

"What was that?" asked Mr. Hammond, turning about interestedly.

"Oh, one of the old discoverers was searching for a fountain to keep him
young," explained Betty, with a smile.

"Huh! He'd better be careful of what he drinks in these woods," said the
overseer. "There's water that's deadly poison, to say nothing of the
moccasins and copperheads in some of the swamps. If that fellow is a
friend of yours warn him to be careful."

"Oh, he died some years ago," explained Mollie, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, well, then that's all right," and the overseer seemed relieved.
"Yes, you want to be careful of what you drink in these wilds. Of course
a good clear spring is all right, and generally you'll find a cocoanut
shell, or something like that, near it to drink from. That's a sign it's
good water."

"What are those other things?" asked Amy. "Cottontails--did you call
them--do you mean rabbits?"

"No, indeed. I mean snakes."

"Oh!" screamed the girls in chorus.

"They call 'em cotton mouths because their lips are white," Mr. Hammond
explained, "and it looks as though they were chewing cotton. They're
deadly too, and so are the copperheads, w